Overworld, the flagship game of the Illuvium franchise, will be the studio’s key focus in 2025, when they will work on introducing more gameplay features that will transform the blockchain open world game into an MMO Lite. This was revealed in an official announcement written by the team’s Co-Founder and CEO, Kieran Warwick, who had a lot to say in an effort to properly make it clear for everyone what the future holds for one of web3 gaming’s biggest IPs.

What’s Changing With Illuvium Overworld?

At some point mid-2025, Illuvium will fully prioritize development on Overworld, in an effort to introduce new gameplay elements that will turn their “greatest investment of time and resources” into a creature-capturing MMO Lite, meaning that you will get to see classic MMO features while enjoying a polished blockchain gaming experience that represents “a streamlined, more accessible version of a traditional MMO” that builds upon the work already done instead of completely rebuilding from the ground up.

Generally, games are called MMO Lites when they have big lobby-based, shared open-world areas from which you jump into smaller, instance-based sessions, making these games more simpler and easier to start playing than regular MMOs. In Warwick’s message, he labels the game’s transformation as one in which you enjoy “a core MMO experience without the sprawling complexity. At least not to start with.” This means that the focus will be on creating the core gameplay loops, main progression systems, specific enemy types, and well-designed regions to ensure a polished gameplay experience instead of trying to deliver endless zones right from release.

Since the team isn’t starting this from scratch, this means that there are features already completed and ready to help set the foundation for the future. According to the list of features from Warwick’s official post, the existing elements already in place include Illuvials, weapons, regions, the crafting system, the questing system, the marketplace, social features, and the story, which is said to need new chapters. Mechanics currently in development are said to include melee combat, NPCs, progression, armor, Rangers, multiplayer, and bosses called Leviathans. In the future, the team plans to start working on introducing raids as well.

With all these new features planned, this means that players in the future can look forward to enjoying a large creature-capturing world in which you continuously improve your Ranger, Illuvials, and drones, unlocking new equipment and abilities while exploring various hidden locations and teaming up with other players to embark on raids against dangerous Leviathans for rare rewards.

In the past few months, the studio has brought their monthly costs down to $900k, with the reduced number coming as a result of “tough decisions” that include having the admins “no longer taking a salary” and decreasing overall wages by “an additional $85k.” Ouch. The announcement also states that there are 1,860,000 $ILV tokens (~$78 million!) in the treasury, but despite this, the studio anticipates “the need for more capital” in order to deliver this overhauled Overworld game, with plans to start seeking investments in March 2025. The reason for adding more funding is said to be for providing “current and prospective investors greater confidence in our new path and ensure we have the runway to make it a reality.”

Because of these significant changes, Warwick is considering closing down the game temporarily while allowing “only automated drone runs for Illuvial acquisition” until the revamp is live. This will help prevent new players avoid getting “immediately exposed to an undercooked game” and allow Arena to serve as the primary game alongside Beyond and Zero. Warwick however would like this decision to be decided by the community, so feel free to voice your opinion on the X article or on their official Discord server.

This announcement was accompanied by the teaser trailer below, with a full cinematic planned to come out early next year.

What Happens to Illuvium Arena?

The developers will continue to put effort into improving Arena next year as well by adding new features and quality-of-life enhancements in order to elevate the web3 game “to the level of top-tier auto battlers” by Q2 2025. Once this is all achieved, the whole team will focus on making the new Overworld a reality.

Check out the official update post to learn more about everything that is changing for the future of Illuvium. If you’re interested in jumping into this sci-fi franchise now though, then check out our Gamer’s Guide to Illuvium to get started with your play to earn journey across all 3 games: Illuvium Overworld, Illuvium Arena, and Illuvium Zero.